Tag: ocean

One thing I have learned recently is that if I you need to be by the Montauk Lighthouse by sunrise, you need to leave New Jersey at the dead of the night, specifically at exactly 2:00 AM. And it helps if you had a couple of hours of afternoon nap on the day before.

When we left home at the very young hour of the night, the weather was pretty fresh and cool. Roads were sleek and not crowded at all. For the first two hours, there was some traffic but in the last hour, almost no car but ours was left on the road. The farther we drove to the East, the narrower the roads got. Lanes dropped by the hour.

Another lesson from the trip is about the ‘audacity of the gas stations’ for not having a functioning restroom. I had to stop at two separate stations, both were out of the way, finding no comfort. Then my dear wife found me a public restroom in the town center of East Hampton, surprisingly open, reliably clean and well functioning at 4 AM.

After a roughly three hour trip, we arrived at Montauk Lighthouse, literally 15 mins before the sunrise. My notes on our experience with the beautiful sunrise is another post, to be published soon.

On the way back to home, we wanted to take a different route. As both of us have very limited knowledge of the Long Island, we consulted with a wise man: Google Maps. After a short deliberation, we decided to stop by Sag Harbor and Bay Shore.

I previously heard the name of Sag Harbor, described as an upscale suburban/holiday town with a famous marina. The place turned out to be exactly as described. A quaint, easygoing town with a nice little marina, quiet waters and mostly white affluent people.

Another thing I noticed was the relative abundance of classic cars in good shape. We left Sag Harbor before it got really warm, at around 9 AM.

I suggested to stop by Bay Shore because it was the town the uncle of my cousin once lived there for a few years. He passed away before any of us had a chance to visit him. So I wanted to document what kind of a town it was, as an homage to his memory.

Bay Shore looks like an accessible, middle class residential town by the Great South Bay. The water by the beach did not look attractive at all for a swim, even though it was boiling hot out there.

We saw a couple of potentially promising seafood restaurants but decided to head home for lunch before it’s too late. We were still two hours away from home and the Sunday traffic back to New York City was about to take hold. We managed to avoid most of the traffic arrive home ready for a wholesome meal and a good rest. After all, it was a long trip on a Long Island. :)